Medical leads are implanted in the body of a patient in order to deliver medical therapy. The implantation process varies depending upon the type of medical lead and the particular location within the body where the medical lead is being implanted. In the case of percutaneous leads, the implantation process typically involves inserting an introducer to nearby the stimulation site and then guiding the lead through the introducer and ultimately steering the distal end of the lead to the proper location. For subcutaneous implantation of a percutaneous lead, such as for occipital or peripheral nerve applications, an introducer is used to tunnel subcutaneously to the stimulation site and then the lead is inserted through the introducer. Thus, tunneling to the stimulation site and guiding the lead to the stimulation site is a multi-step process.
Once to the stimulation site, it is desirable to anchor the medical lead in position so that body movement does not result in the medical lead migrating away from the stimulation site. However, for subcutaneous implantation, conventional anchoring may be relatively ineffective or undesirable due to the subcutaneous tissue and location. In some instances, anchors may not be installed and the lead may be directly sutured. In either case, the distal end of the lead at the stimulation site may be subject to migration that hinders the ability to stimulate the intended tissue.
To assist in anchoring the distal end of the lead, a lead with a distal tip anchor may be chosen. While this may be beneficial once implanted, implanting a medical lead with a distal tip anchor may be difficult because the distal tip anchor obstructs the passage of the medical lead through an introducer and/or subcutaneous tissue.